Fire and Ice
by Antoinette the Creepy
Summary: Selene White is Reed's own protegee, but even as she and the group deal with the effects of the cosmic storm they all learn she's been hiding something for a long time. Goes along with the movie. Possibly Johnny StormxOC.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey everyone! I got the idea to write up this story from my friend and it sounded good. Hope you all like it when reading!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fantastic Four characters in the movie. I own only Selene White.**_  
_

"Typical of Victor von Doom to build a 30-foot statue of himself," Ben Grimm said as he and his best friend Reed Richards stood at the foot of the tall black metal statue that some welders were working on.

"Well, it's obviously aimed at first-time visitors to create feelings of smallness…inadequacy," Reed answered, looking from the statue to Ben, a small smirk coming on as his best friend spoke. His closest and favorite assistant, Selene White, stood on his other side as she too observed the large obvious statue.

"You know we can't forget that we are little more than worms in comparison, right?" Selene said with a small laugh, looking from the looming statue to Reed with a smirk, sarcastic but playful. She had pale skin and dark, curled brown hair that just brushed her shoulders, and hazel eyes she often made up to bring out a forest green color instead of only brown. She was dressed in a suit for this occasion, though she preferred more casual clothes, and wore heels that made her almost as tall as Reed. She wore black rimmed glasses for reading, but otherwise her sight was normal and they were put away until she needed them.

"Good thing it ain't workin'," Ben said, following after Reed as they started walking towards the building behind the statue. "Reed, what are we doing here? This guy's fast-food, strip-mall science," he continued, looking less than pleased that he had to be there.

"This wasn't our first stop, in case you forgot. Besides, Victor's not that bad. He's just a little…larger than life," Reed said as he led Ben into the tall, sleek building that was Victor's domain.

"Let's just get this over with, yeah? Hopefully it won't last too long and we'll be out of there soon," Selene said, patting Ben's shoulder as she followed them both into the building, adjusting the shoulder strap of her bag that had the equipment for Reed's presentation.

"And hopefully we'll get the funding and help we need…with as little gloating from Victor as possible," Reed said, sighing quietly as he knew they probably wouldn't get off that easy if they did get the help. It was a rare thing to see Reed Richards dependant on someone else other than himself and his crew, let alone on someone like Victor von Doom.

* * *

"My research suggests that exposure to a high-energy cosmic storm borne on solar winds might have triggered the evolution of early planetary life," Reed explained in a lecture as he walked around a holographic diagram of his explanations. Selene was at one end of the table, oppositely across from the shaded end of the table with an open laptop in front of her. She was running Reed's program and making sure it functioned perfectly while he spoke.

"In six weeks another cloud with the same elemental profile will pass Earth's orbit. A study, conducted in space could fundamentally advance our knowledge about the structure of the human genome, cure countless diseases, extend human life, give kids a chance to live longer, stronger, healthier-" Reed went on enthusiastically before the sole voice of his audience spoke: "Turn it off. Please."

"I don't think I've explained my proposal fully," Reed said as Selene looked to him to see if he wanted it turned off. She knew better, however, knowing he would persist until he was practically kicked out of the building. Her fingers rested over the keyboard of her laptop, waiting to type in the command to get out of the presentation.

"No, I think you have. Same old Reed, always stretching, reaching for the stars with the weight of the world on his back. But dreams don't pay the bills, do they?" The man said as he tossed a magazine onto the table, sliding it towards Reed. It showed a picture of him with the headline blaring 'Bankrupt.' Reed, ever persistent, waved it off and looked at the man, not giving up.

"You remember, when we were in school, we talked about working together. Well that's what I was about to explain," he said, looking over at Selene and giving her a nod. She nodded back and pressed different keys, bringing up something else Reed had been planning to talk about had he been able to get to it without interruption. Once it came up, Reed kept talking. "The storm is deadly, but the shields on your station's control room are designed to protect any occupants inside."

The darkness that hovered over the end of the table that Reed had been facing lifted as the man sitting there flipped a switch. Light came over the man, revealing him to be Victor von Doom, looking rather skeptically at Reed.

"So it's not just my money you want. It's my toys," Victor said, a slight smirk forming on his face as he looked thoroughly amused. "Tell me, if NASA doesn't trust you, then why should I?" He asked while Reed and Ben exchanged looks. Victor laughed as he got up. "That's my job- to stay a step ahead, to know what other men don't," he said, perching on one side of the table, opposite Selene and her laptop, looking over at her and smirking. She said nothing as she looked back at him, and then looked over toward her boss as he spoke quietly with Ben.

"I can't take this," Ben muttered to Reed, shaking his head slightly. Reed looked at him, speaking in what would have been a comforting tone, "Ben, this is business. Just work. "

Just then, there was another voice in the room, a woman's voice. It was one that Reed and Ben knew quite well, and one that Selene vaguely recognized, but as all but Reed turned to look at the newcomer, it was clear everyone knew who she was.

"He's right, Ben- it is just business," Sue Storm said, standing near the small group as Victor spoke up next.

"I think you both know my director of genetic research, Susan Storm," he said, introducing her even though it was clear she was well known amongst the group. Selene had heard about her from the stories Reed had told her about his times in college, so she knew how they used to be together, as well as some of the background history on him and Victor. She had known Reed and Sue had been together, but she hadn't known what broke them up.

"One more thing he's got," Ben muttered to Reed, who looked somewhat dumbfounded at seeing Sue. Selene looked at Reed's back and could just imagine the frozen look on his face at the sight of Sue. She could see why; Sue was gorgeous, and after all, it had been a while since she last had heard of her. "Hey Susie," Ben greeted as Sue walked towards him with a smile, opening her arms to give him a hug.

"Hey! Oh, it's so nice to see you. How's Debbie?" she asked, pulling away as he answered her, "Great." She mirrored his answer and turned to look at Reed. It immediately seemed to get more awkward. "Uh…how have you been?" Reed asked Sue, as her smile faded slightly.

"Never better," she said, and looked at him, both confused about what they should do in greeting. Awkwardly, they both settled for shaking hands. Victor looked on, still looking smug at the sight, and hid a smirk.

"This isn't gonna be a problem, is it?" he asked, looking at the two of them. Reed was quick to turn to tell him otherwise, but both he and Sue spoke at the same time. He was louder, however, so Victor heard him say, "Oh, not at all."

"Good," Victor said, getting off the table and walking over to the group. Meanwhile, Selene had long closed down the program as the introductions were given and shut her laptop, gathering her things into her bag and walking over join the group as well. She slung the strap of the bag over her shoulder as she stood on the other side of Reed while Victor approached. "Then you are just in time to hear the great Reed Richards ask _me_ for help," he said as he walked to stand next to Sue. "You made a lot of folks at MIT feel like a junior high science fair so you'll excuse me if I savor the moment."

Reed spoke up, not exactly happy Victor was rubbing the fact he needed help in his face, but accepting the help nonetheless. "You back this mission and I'll sign over a fair percentage of any applications-"

"The number is 75, and its applications and patents," Victor cut in, speaking curtly. "What about his firstborn?" Ben asked sarcastically, not liking how this was going.

"Ben," Reed said, giving him a look although Victor just laughed. "Come on. Twenty-five percent of a billion is enough to keep the lights on a while, isn't it? Maybe even pay off your fourth mortgage on the Baxter Building. Deal?" he asked, extending a hand for Reed to shake. After a second, he took Victor's hand and shook it. "Well then," Victor said, "To our future. Together," he said, putting an arm around Sue. "It's funny how things turn out, isn't it?"

"Hilarious," Reed said, although he didn't look like he really meant it. Now that the deal was sealed, Reed gathered his own materials as Selene double checked to make sure she had everything she was supposed to bring. She did, and she joined Reed and Ben just as he spoke in a lowered voice.

"He knew about NASA. Maybe he made the call to shut us down," he said, starting to walk away with the other two, leaving the giant conference room. "Ben, think about all the people we can help if this works. Huh? Look, we got what we wanted. That's enough. A few days in space. It'll be great. What's the worst that can happen?" Reed answered, looking at Ben, who didn't look convinced.

"Really, Ben, at least this can actually happen now. You know that we'd do it even if we had to resort to coming here though it was our last choice. But we didn't even have a choice, so let's be happy we're gonna be able to do this, alright?" Selene added, looking over at Ben as they walked, the door closing behind them leaving Victor and Sue in the room, as well as someone else who came in when they left. Ben still didn't look fully convinced, but it was put into perspective in a manner of speaking by both Reed and Selene.

* * *

Sue was leaving the conference room almost just after the trio, and passed by the man who had came in as they left. Once she was gone, Victor spoke to the man. "If Reed's right, this little trip could double over our stock offerings."

"And if he's not?" the man asked, watching Victor go back to the head of the table. "Reed's always right," Victor said. "Good thing he doesn't always know what he's got," he said, leaning an arm on his chair as he looked at his underling.

* * *

Reed, Ben, Selene and Sue all got into the next elevator that opened its doors. Selene leaned against one of the back corners while Sue reached to press the button she needed. He looked at her, and then stared blankly at the elevator doors, which was exactly what Sue was doing. She stared hard at the door before finally looking at him.

"Reed, you should know these solar winds have been picking up speed," she said, seeming to warn him. He quickly turned towards her in response, and answered just as quickly. "I factored them into my coordinates," he said, smiling slightly.

"Right," Sue said, as Ben and Selene watched them both, their eyes flicking from one person to the other as they took turns shooting statements at each other. "Of course you did. In theory," she said, turning to look back at the elevator door, looking as if this was most typical of him. And of course, to Ben, Sue, and Selene, it was. They all knew him well enough to know that everything he thought about but had yet to test was always in theory. "It's a little different once you're out there."

"I can assure you-" Reed started, about to defend his work before Ben interrupted with a small smile on his face. "When are we leaving?" he asked Sue, who looked back at him and Selene with a smile. "I'll be scheduling the launch. You can call me in the morning for resources and crew," she said, handing Reed her card as Ben watched and Selene smirked from where she leaned in her corner at the interactions. Awkwardness between two exes never got boring, and as she was also coming on this trip, she was sure it would only get more interesting.

"I think I remember the number," Reed said, refusing the card but Sue looked amused then. "It's been changed." With that, Reed took the card as Ben cleared his throat. Reed looked back as Ben nodded his head toward Sue, and he stepped back to stand nearer to his best friend. "I was hoping Ben could pilot the mission," he said, speaking up for Ben.

"We already have a pilot on our payroll," Sue answered, "But you're welcome to ride shotgun. Remember my brother Johnny?" she asked as Ben slightly froze at the answer. Selene didn't know why, but it seemed to be enough to make him look like he was going to punch something. All the while Selene had known background information about Reed and Sue, she hadn't known Sue had a brother. If it was enough to make Ben angry, she knew he had to be something.


	2. Chapter 2

_Lucky for you guys it's summer so I have all this inspiration and time to crank out another chapter for you so quickly…gosh, if I were as lucky… :P Anyway, here's Chapter Two!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fantastic Four characters in the movie. I only own Selene White.**

From an elevated post, Selene, Reed and Ben stood watching over an open space with a near empty dirt road, except for a car and a motorcycle. They were riding side by side, so close that if you looked close enough you could see Johnny Storm on his motorcycle kissing the woman driving the convertible. Selene watched through her binoculars, eyebrow raised slightly as she could already start to see why Ben had been getting worked up at the idea of being second in piloting. The motorcycle pulled away from the convertible as the trio on the high platform lowered their binoculars.

"Can't do it. Cannot do it," Ben said, shaking his head and turning away while Reed looked like he was going to start trying to reason with him.

"External S.R.B.'s, orbital system engines. It's just like the shuttle he flew-" Reed started, but was cut off.

"No!" Ben said, putting up a hand. "I cannot take orders from the underwear model," he protested, but Reed turned.

"Oh, come on now-" he started, but was cut off again. Selene turned from looking out over the road towards Ben and Reed, her interest clearly caught. She opened her mouth to comment, but stopped as Ben kept talking, although an interested little smile caught her mouth.

"That wing nut washed out of NASA for sneaking two Victoria's Secret wannabes into a flight simulator," Ben pointed out, not pacified. "Youthful high spirits," Reed said, as if it were a valid excuse.

"Uh, so-" Selene said, holding up a finger as if it would get their attention, or ask a question about this guy who sounded like he was a lot of fun, albeit a bit of a troublemaker, but Ben was persistent in proving how wrong Johnny was for the job. "They crashed it into a wall. A flight simulator."

"When have I ever asked you to do something you absolutely said you could not do?" Reed asked, stepping closer to Ben, looking just as serious. Ben held up his hand with all his fingers extended.

"Five times," he said, turning around and starting to walk off.

"I had it at four," Reed said, looking somewhat confused before Ben spoke again.

"Well, this makes five," he called as he went down the stairs. Reed leaned his elbows on one of the railings and let out a sigh of a laugh.

Selene bit her lip; the little smile had grown slightly and she walked over to stand next to Reed, her arms crossed over her chest, looking like she hit jackpot or something. "That bad?" she asked with a laugh as she turned around to lean against the railing. "He sounds rather fun, if what Ben said was true," she said, smirking slightly.

Reed shook his head and let out a half laugh. "You've no idea. Some of the stuff he's pulled has been pretty wild, and he picked on Ben a lot. It's funny, if you're the easily amused type with nothing better to do than get into mischief all the time," he said, looking out at the panorama from where he stood.

"Well…" Selene started, turning her head towards Reed, her smirk deepening as he turned to look at her. He opened his mouth to speak and laughed. "That's right. You may be my protégée, but…yes, I know. I wonder how well Ben would take it if you and Johnny got along. Playing pranks on Ben all the time, the two of you? I don't know how well that'd go…" Reed trailed off, a smile playing on his lips as he shook his head and laughed again. Although Selene was working under Reed to be just like him, she had always liked having fun while doing her work, and sometimes she would do little things that would make things that much more amusing for her while she worked.

It was where they differed, while he was the type to be more serious as he worked and in general, Selene was the type to have fun while she worked and make the job fun to do. She joked around a lot, although she knew when it was time to be serious and act fully mature- not that she wasn't. She just wanted to have a good time while she did things.

"Selene," Reed said, the more humorous tone in his voice fading, growing a little more serious. Selene still smirked, but it faded slightly as well in reaction. It sounded like she was going to get one of those "talks," or a lecture if you will. It was nothing she had done, but it was something he wanted to make sure he said.

"Yeah?" she asked, waiting to hear what it was this time around.

"The mission…I know you were supposed to come with us and help us collect the research, but I need you to stay down here and make sure everything we transmit to you gets taken care of. I know you wanted to come, too, but you're the only one I'll trust with this to make sure it's done as well as I would do it, and make sure it stays in our hands only," Reed explained, "That, and if something happens up there that you'll be alright." Although he would have let her go up with them, he wanted her to be around if anything happened to them, and make sure their findings would stay safe and be recorded right.

"Reed, aw come on," Selene started, turning herself to face him, a slight pout coming onto her face. "I could do it just as well up there you know," she said, trying to make him see things her way, but even then she knew she was going to do what he said regardless.

"I know, I know," Reed said, holding up a hand and shaking his head. "But I want to make sure everything goes right and is taken care of," he said, and seeing that Selene was opening her mouth to protest more, he kept talking before she could. "And to make it up to you, I promise that you can come with me on the _next_ mission, alright?"

While Selene still wanted to go on the current mission, his offer and promise seemed to be enough to pacify her. She pursed her lips and made a face, but she shrugged her shoulders and nodded.

"Yeah, alright. That's fine. I guess it's for the best, right? It's not like there's anyone else to do the job right anyways," she said with a slightly smug smirk.

"But I'm coming to see you all off," Selene said with a finality as if it wouldn't happen, and turned around to look at the view Reed was looking at. Her eyes trailed off slightly as they followed the plumes of dust that rose up in the wake of Johnny Storm's motorcycle.

* * *

Ben flipped through his address book until he came to the marked page where there was a picture of him and his fiancée, Debbie. "I miss you already, Debs," he said quietly as he touched the picture.

"Now don't forget, Selene, I'll need you to make sure you monitor the signals from the space station to here and double check that you're fully receiving anything we might be sending you. I don't want you to miss anything that could be critical in our research. We're not working under Victor so he can fund us and laugh at us at the same time," Reed said in the midst of giving Selene everything she needed to make sure she had to do while the mission would be happening.

"I know, I know. We've been through this a million times. I got it, Reed. I promise it's okay," Selene said with a slight laugh, knowing by now exactly how Reed liked things, thorough, organized, and completely backed up.

"And don't forget-" Reed started to say, but Selene cut him off.

"I know! Alright? God, it's almost like you don't tr-" Selene said, but was cut off by someone yelling something and approaching.

"Captain on the bridge!" Someone called out, making Ben jump to his feet immediately and stand perfectly straight. A camera flash went off, and as it was lowered, Johnny Storm in a sleek navy blue and black uniform walked in. Selene looked up from where she sat next to Reed and then simply watched. Her attention was clearly turned away from her tasks as she admired the form fitting uniform and the man in it, letting her head tilt slightly as she watched him stop to take a picture of poor Ben.

"Digital camera, $254. Memory stick, $59. The look on your hard-ass former C.O.'s face when he finds out he's your junior officer…priceless," he said as he strode in, walking over to sit on the arm of a chair as he put down his bags. Reed looked thoroughly amused as Johnny spoke, and Selene stifled a laugh, a deep smirk on her face that she covered when she saw Ben's face.

Ben walked over, as serious looking and tough as ever, and raised his hands up as if he were about to punch Johnny in the face or strangle him. Instead, his hands went to the zipper of Johnny's uniform and zipped it up to the top of his collar. Johnny laughed.

"Thank you. That's so sweet," he said, looking smug and knowing very well he was pushing Ben's buttons. Ben looked no less serious, still looking rather scary as he spoke.

"I can handle this ship. I can even handle Mr. Blond Ambition. But I don't know if I should be flying or doing _Swan Lake_ in these suits," Ben said, reaching up into the nearby closet and pulling out a uniform similar to the one Johnny wore. "Who the hell came up with these?"

"Victor did," Sue answered as she walked in, wearing the same kind of body suit as her brother. "The synthetics act as a second skin, adapting to your body's individual needs," she explained, and as she walked in, Reed immediately sat up straighter, _his_ attention clearly turned away as Sue's cleavage and well defined outline of her body were quite visible.

"See, now that means it keeps the hot stuff hot and the cool stuff cool," Johnny said, as if it needed a simpler explanation. Reed got up and walked over to where Ben and Sue stood, looking at Sue and the uniform Ben held.

"Wow. Fantastic," he said, looking at both, although which he was looking at more depended on who noticed.

"I'll say," Selene said, placing her laptop safely to the side as she got up as well. She crossed her arms over her chest and walking to stand with the group. While Reed held one of the uniforms and was examining it, she was looking over at Johnny with a pleased smirk. "I think Victor might've done one thing right," she commented with a half-laugh before Reed shushed her, although Johnny looked back at Selene appraisingly.

"Material made from self-regulating unstable molecules. I've been working on a formula for this," Reed said, and slightly awkward looks fell on Sue, Ben and Selene for a second. In the midst of all the nice form fitting uniforms, Selene had almost forgotten Reed had been working on the same exact thing, and she'd even been helping him. But he hadn't gotten far enough with his work on it that he got to making bodysuits.

"Great minds think alike," Sue said, shaking it off while Reed kept looking at it. Selene herself looked at it as well, although she wouldn't be needing one this time around. Sue handed Ben one as she started walking. "Here you go, Ben."

"Thanks, sweetie," Ben said as Sue walked and tossed one at Reed without looking at him, barely mentioning his name. Next, she offered one to Selene.

"Here, you need one too? You'll need it," she said, holding one out for Selene to take. The brunette started to reach to take it, but then lowered her hand, heaving a sigh.

"No, I don't actually. I'm not going on this mission, thanks to Reed," she said with a slight pout, now actually a little bugged that she couldn't go when it was only going to be more interesting with Johnny around.

"Oh, okay," Sue said with a small shrug, and walked off with a little shiver to go take care of the rest of the spare uniforms she had in her arms.

"So you're not going, huh?" Johnny asked Selene, looking her over as she turned to face him. She caught him looking, but it didn't look like he was trying to hide it. From what she was starting to gather it seemed he did this often. Either way, she didn't really mind because she had an equally nice view when she turned to look at him. She shook her head with a slightly annoyed expression, and he smirked. "What a shame, I think I would've liked to see you in one of these suits," he said, his blue eyes glinting mischievously.

"A shame indeed, although I think I'm lucking out here," Selene answered, smirking right back at him as she let her eyes wander for a moment before there was an announcement over the loudspeaker saying that they were ready to board. "That's your cue…good luck, or would the better phrase be, 'have fun?'" she asked, still smirking as Johnny got up and walked over to her, staring her down for a second with his own smirk before Reed called him to get a move on as he was waiting, and Ben had already left.

Selene walked back over to where her laptop was, dragging her heels slightly as she watched them all leave. She packed up her things and went to go to the room where she'd be monitoring all of the happenings on the station once they started.

_I really hope to get reviews from you guys- I wanna know what you think about my story so far! If you like it, please leave a review! __ Until next time!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Lucky for everyone, you get a chapter cause I've been hounded to do another one! Yay, you guys. Anyway, here it is._

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fantastic Four characters in the movie. I only own Selene White.**

Selene sat in her spinny chair, swiveling from side to side in the control room with her laptop and bag of work that she always had to carry around with her as she watched the big screens that monitored the shuttle's flight to the space station and everything from there. She was biting one of her nails, still slightly annoyed although she had a large panel in front of her where there was a button and a microphone she could use to communicate with the people on the station, mostly Reed.

It was a slightly boring wait, and she pouted to herself a little that she still didn't get to go, however she thought to comfort herself slightly with the idea that she would probably hear entertaining things going on up there to make her feel like she wasn't totally missing out on an awesome opportunity. She even fancied herself to think about Johnny Storm in all his hotness, smirking to herself as she kept swiveling in her chair, watching the screens to make sure everything was shipshape.

It wasn't too long after that they finally made it onto the station and she could already imagine the chatter coming from it.

* * *

Victor von Doom and his crew walked down a hall of the space stay, with him leading the way as the doors they came through closed shut in a tight airlock seal to keep the pressure inside safe.

"E.T.A. until cosmic event, nine hours," He announced, although if the others were really listening aside from Reed and Sue, they weren't fully paying attention.

"If you're good, maybe next time Daddy'll let you drive," Johnny said, a smile on his lips as he walked next to Ben, both carrying their suitcases with their belongings inside for the trip. Ben didn't look like he was going to punch him this time around, but he still seemed less than pleased.

"You keep talkin', and there won't be a next time," Ben said as they both walked off, leaving the last two to get onto the station to walk down the hall behind them. Reed and Sue started down the hall, although Reed stopped for a moment to look at the nearby window and see the view that it held.

"Long way from the projection booth at the Hayden Planetarium, isn't it?" Sue asked as they both looked at a good view of the Earth as the beautiful blue marble it was often called. It glowed like a blue sun in the darkness of space, and was mesmerizing to see from this point of view. Sue looked to Reed and smiled at him before walking off, leaving him to watch her go as he quietly agreed.

"Yes. Yes, it is," he said, both answering her and speaking to himself with a nod before he looked out the window again.

* * *

"We can monitor the cloud's approach and observe the tests from here," Sue said, walking into the large main room where they would be doing most of the work. It was in this room that they would also be able to communicate with Selene, who could hear them now and speak with them all if she needed to.

"Is it safe?" Ben asked, adjusting his space suit as he stood near the railing and looked around. Reed walked over to stand near him and do the same.

"The shields on the station should protect us," Reed said, continuing to look around at the large room they were in. Ben stopped for a moment, looking rather skeptical.

"Should?" he asked, giving Reed a look as if he found it hard to believe.

"What's the matter, Ben? Getting paranoid in your old age?" Victor asked with a smirk, coming around to speak to Ben, and leaning against the curved railing.

"Oh, be nice, guys, at least you all are getting to be there and everything. Unlike some of us who got told to stay back cause we have to keep everything back on the home planet." Selene's voice could be heard through one of the speakers as she piped in, and it was clear she was sounding grumpy by the time she finished speaking. Reed turned toward the direction her voice came from and spoke back to her.

"We've got to be thorough, you know that, Selene. And you know I want back-ups of everything should anything here," he said, in a gently chiding voice. He then spoke again. "And don't forget to-"

"I know exactly what you're going to say Reed, and let me tell you again, _I know_," Selene interrupted with a very audible sigh over the speakers. One could practically hear her eyes rolling, too. "I know exactly how you want things, and I promise I won't forget _any_thing. Loosen up and chill out, will ya?"

"Alright, alright," Reed laughed before he turned towards Ben and Victor. "Let's start loading those samples. Get your suit ready, Ben," he told his best friend, who was still fiddling with the zipper of his grey suit. Victor looked at Ben as he started to walk off.

"So I see you're still doing all the heavy lifting. Maybe you should have stayed in the lab. Field work never suited you," he said, knowing he was starting to grate on Ben, who turned around and started walking back towards Victor.

"He does the talkin'. I do the walkin'. Got it?" Ben asked, standing in front of Reed slightly, not letting Victor get to him. Victor nodded, still looking slightly smug before speaking again.

"So take a walk, Ben," Victor said, nodding towards where Ben was heading to. "Actually, if you'll all excuse me, I need to borrow Susan for a moment," he said, getting Sue's attention as she looked from a screen to him, looking almost confused. Ben gave Victor a last look before walking off, and Reed nodded slightly, giving Victor a small smile.

"Sure," was all he said before he followed Ben and Johnny out of the room. Victor watched them all leave, and then turned off the intercom between the base and the station so not even the still slightly-bored Selene could hear what he so wanted to talk about with Sue.

* * *

Ben was all geared up in his space-walking suit, and Johnny was helping to put the last finishing touches on his back.

"Please tell me your guy's not trying to rekindle things with my sister again," Johnny said, walking around to adjust some of the gadgets on Ben's front that he couldn't get with the large gloves over his hands.

"Of course not," Ben answered quickly, his voice muffled through the suit and the clear dome covering his face. "It's strictly business."

"Yes, well, his eyes say differently, don't they?" Johnny said skeptically as he started adjusting some things on the wrist of Ben's suit. Ben raised a hand to stop him for a second, because Johnny was slightly off base.

"Hey. Two hearts got busted last time. Maybe she's not over it either," Ben said, his tone serious with an expression to match as he looked at Johnny. Things hadn't been resolved between the two and he knew it, though Johnny didn't really seem to care.

"Wow, Dr. Phil, that's deep. Let's think about that," Johnny said sarcastically as he went over to pick up a few containers of specimens and brought them over to Ben, who started walking toward the airtight door that would let him into space. "You got Victor- more money than God, stud of the year, and you got Reed, world's dumbest smart guy, worth less than a postage stamp. That's a real toss up," he said, handing him the containers and hooking the cable to keep him with the ship onto his suit.

"Don't worry your tiny little mind," Ben retorted, glaring at Johnny as he started walking off.

"Don't wander off now, boy," Johnny answered, stepping over to the controls on the wall. He was about to start pressing them so that the small chamber would close up and lock so that Ben could step out into space without sucking out everything inside the room, but stopped. He moved and leaned over to peek into the small room Ben was waiting in. "Oh yeah, do you know who that chick was that was with Reed before we left? I know she wasn't with him like that or anything, God knows he's still hooked on Sue," he said, shaking his head as if it were absurd. Ben sighed, rolling his eyes as this was so typical of Johnny to think more about girls than the task at hand.

"Her name's Selene White. She's Reed's protégée. Training to be just like him, and she stayed back to keep things in check where she is," Ben answered, shifting his stance as he was starting to get impatient to just get out there already. Johnny stood up straight and laughed to himself.

"Didn't seem just like him, the big nerd type and all. Definitely looks worth more than a postage stamp," Johnny said with a laugh to himself and a smirk as he went back to the panel on the wall and pressed the right buttons to start the process.

There was a beeping, and a computerized voice announced, _Securing air lock chamber_, as a thick glass door slid down and locked tight. Johnny walked to stand in front of it, smirking widely and giving Ben a sarcastic salute and a mocking two thumbs up. Ben gave one back before turning towards the opening space door, a smile starting to creep onto his lips as the bright light outside space started to shine on his face.

* * *

"Surprised I agreed to Reed's proposal?" Victor asked Sue as she walked down the small set of steps, taking her hand as she made her way down. They looked at each other with smiles as she spoke.

"I understand the business reasons," Sue said as they stepped to one side of the small, lowered platform of the main room and faced each other.

"Well, when you're looking at your future, it doesn't hurt to find closure about the past," Victor said, slowly bringing up Sue's hand to kiss it with a smile before lowering it. "Susan, every man dreams he'll meet a woman he can give the world to. In my case, it's not just a metaphor," he continued, letting go of her hand for a second so he could step into the middle. He pulled out a small remote and pressed a button with a beeping sound. A computerized voice then said, _Opening viewing station shield,_ before the layered shields outside the round set of windows surrounding them slowly peeled back to reveal a gorgeous panoramic view of the Earth below them.

Continents were as visible as the deep blue oceans along with the swirling white clouds, and Sue stepped around to take a good look at it all. She was smiling as she turned her head, seeing the great blue-green planet at every turn, mesmerized.

* * *

Meanwhile, Reed was in another room with computer screens and other equipment along the walls, taking down some notes he'd been comparing with Selene over the communications in the room. Their screens were in sync with each other, so they saw the exact same thing and could talk it over. As Reed was writing some factors down, the screen started beeping. It got his attention and he turned to look at it.

"That can't be right," he said, looking slightly confused. "Am I seeing things, Selene?" he asked, speaking normally as if she were in the room with him. Her voice came through a nearby speaker.

"No, I see it too. It can't be right, but it looks like it is. Shit. This wasn't supposed to happen," Selene said as she sat up in her seat in her area on Earth, alert just as Reed leaned in to look more closely at his screen. The computer spoke what they both were not expecting to hear. _Event threshold in T-minus nine minutes, forty-seven seconds._

"That's impossible. It should be seven hours," Reed said, looking confused though he was trying to figure out why this was happening.

"It looks like it isn't anymore. Reed, you gotta go let everyone else know. Now," Selene said, unable to help from where she was, although she was taking down meticulous notes on everything that was happening as it was going down.

"I'll be back," Reed said, nodding to himself before rushing out of the small room to go warn everyone else and get Ben back in. This was not good.

_And there you have it- Chapter 3. If you're reading it and/or like it, please review. I'd love to hear what you think of it. Until next time.. be kind…rewind (or just review XD)_


	4. Chapter 4

_It's been a while, but I've been busy with a lot of stuff (mostly work)…Regardless, here's the next chapter. And, Ace, this chapter is for you.. You better cheer up, or else XD_

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fantastic Four characters in the movie. I only own Selene White.**

Victor took a last look at the diamond ring in its box before closing it and casually hiding it behind his back as he turned to Sue. They were still observing the Earth in its marble-like entirety, although Victor had cut the silence.

"We've been together two years now," he said, standing next to her as he glanced over at Sue. She turned to him, smiling.

"It's been a good two years, Victor. The company's accomplished so much," Sue said, clearly thinking only business.

"Right. Of course. The company," Victor agreed, nodding his head slightly, although he was getting to his real point. "But I've come to realize that all the accomplishments in the world mean nothing without someone to share them with," he said, looking collected as he spoke, turning to face her straight on. Sue stuttered, but he kept talking. "I've lived my life unafraid of taking big steps. Now it's time to take the biggest step of all," he continued, building up to the main reason for his small speech.

"Victor-" Sue said, trying to interrupt him, smiling at him, although it was rather easy to see that she was looking a bit uncomfortable. And yet, he pressed on.

"If it helps, think of this as a…promotion," Victor said, giving her the slightest smile as if it would make it any less uncomfortable.

"Victor, I-" Sue tried again, but was stopped for a third time, only this time when Victor started talking again, he had something in his hands…a little black box he was opening up.

"I have four words," Victor said, revealing to Sue the diamond ring he'd just been looking at. "Four little words that can change our lives forever."

Sue was opening her mouth to give an answer after staring at the ring, but Reed bursting into the room stopped her in her tracks.

"The cloud is accelerating!" he announced, causing both Sue and Victor to look up at him before at each other. "We've got minutes until it hits, not hours. Selene and I just noticed it's change and we've gotta do something," Reed said, walking over to the control panel and pressing a button so Selene could speak in the room with them. "Victor, that storm is deadly. We need to abort."

"Get a grip, Reed," Victor said, looking serious although he didn't seem to believe it. He was looking up at Reed, hands behind his back, hiding the ring. "We didn't come all this way to lose our nerve at the first glitch. Just close the shields," he said, answering as if it were the most obvious solution to think of.

"Victor, we're not losing our nerve. We've been tracking it and it's coming a whole lot faster than we planned. You can't not take us seriously," Selene's voice piped in through the speaker in the room, echoing. She was sitting on the edge of her chair back on Earth, bracing herself for something that she would not experience, but something that could really harm her friends up there.

"And Ben is still out there," Reed said, having nodded in agreement with Selene. Victor still seemed unfazed.

"So reel him in. We came here to do a job, so let's do it. Quickly," he said, looking as if he were starting to get annoyed. Reed turned immediately and started towards Ben's direction. Meanwhile, Sue was over at one of the monitors that was showing the same exact thing that Reed and Selene had been seeing.

"Victor, they're right. We have less than six minutes," she called out to him, watching as the time on the screen ticked closer to zero.

"See? So stop standing around doing nothing like you probably are and do something!" Selene barked over the speaker, getting more worried by the second since it seemed as if nothing was being done to counter it.

* * *

Out in the dark recesses of space, a bright, flashing wave of the incoming cosmic storm flew through the black, coming quickly within the reaches of the space stay. Reed had only just made it into the room where Johnny had sent Ben off, yelling as he ran.

"Ben, get inside now!" Reed yelled, pressing his communicator to Ben hard into his ear and rousing Johnny at the same time. His attention was drawn to Reed, and he was alert.

"What's going on?" Johnny asked as he turned around. Ben, attached to the station by just his tether, heard the commotion and spoke up.

"I ain't done arrangin' your flowers yet, egghead," Ben said, speaking to Reed, but was cut short from saying anything more when Reed stopped him.

"Ben, turn around."

The reflection of the bright, glowing cosmic storm loomed on Ben's helmet as he did what Reed said and turned around. It was approaching extremely fast, already touching the opposite end of the space station. It was getting closer to him, and fast. Throughout the whole station there was a shake from the strong force of the storm, and everyone felt it.

"Guys, I'm not gonna make it," Ben said, seeing what was coming at him and knowing he wouldn't be able to get out of it.

"You gotta jump! It's the only way!" Johnny said through the communicator, his hand pressed to the window as he watched out of it worriedly. Reed stood at the window as well, mirroring Johnny's stance as he watched his best friend out in space.

As quickly as he could, Ben jumped from where he was, but he had been right. Despite his strongest leap, wisps of the glowing cosmic storm just about to overtake him.

* * *

In the bridge of the ship, Victor was pressing his finger on one of the screens. He was quickly working the controls.

"What are you doing?" Sue asked, looking at what he was doing over his shoulder. Victor didn't look at her; he kept on touching the screen and setting the controls.

"Closing the shields," he answered, getting a desperate look from Sue, although he didn't look at her.

"You can't just leave them out there," she said, looking at him intently, but his answer was quick.

"Watch me," he said, finally looking at her. Sue's eyes went wide in shock, and she looked at him with a hint of shame.

"What are you doing? They have to be safe! You can't just-" Selene yelled over the speaker, unable to believe what she was hearing herself. She was out of her seat now, standing and leaning over her desk, her hands planted firmly on it as she screamed into the communicator. She couldn't believe he was just going to let them get hurt by the storm, and she had cut herself off with a growl. If only she was there…she could help!

On the station, Sue had turned around and started to head towards Reed, Johnny, and Ben.

"You can't help them any more than I can!" Victor called out, turning to see her quickly walk away. She stopped to look at him defiantly.

"I can try," Sue said, hard-faced as she turned and started walking out again. Victor looked away from her, his face looked as if he might have just messed things up with her.

"Victor, you're horrible! You can't just let them get stuck in that storm! Vict-" Selene tried again, but was cut off by Victor turning off communications with her. Realizing she'd been cut off, Selene pushed away from her desk and growled angrily as she paced. She was so angry; she couldn't help it. Reed, Ben, Sue, and Johnny.. they were all in trouble and there was nothing she could do! And Victor just shut her up! She growled again as she slammed her hands on the table, looking at the notes she had been taking. Those were nothing now, and she knew they'd be important later, but the team's welfare was in jeopardy. This was important _now_.

On the space stay's bridge, Victor seemed to debate with himself for a short moment, seeming to hesitate. Then, he didn't. He turned the bright red handle causing the shields to protect the bridge start moving. Sue had run out of the bridge's protection just as the shields started sliding down as the alarm blared.

* * *

Things seemed to happen all at once. Ben was still floating through space from his jump, although he was barely ahead of the storm. Sue was running towards where the others were, but stopped at one window in the hall when she saw Ben moving towards where she was headed, but the wispy tendrils of the cosmic storm were ever closer to him.

In the other room, Reed and Johnny were still watching, thoroughly worried and anxious for Ben.

"Come on, Ben! You got this!" Johnny called out, watching helplessly from inside the station. Outside, the tendrils of cosmic storm were starting to swirl around Ben, still not yet there. Reed was getting ready for his best friend to get back to them.

"Johnny, get ready to close the portal," Reed told him. Johnny had a hard time tearing his eyes away from the sight in front of him, and slowly backed up before running to the control panel in the room. The doors were open for Ben now, who was so close to getting in. But, just as he made it into the small chamber he was hit with a strong blast of the storm, glowing a bright orange-red color as he was thrown in, the pressure forcing him against the inner doors as Johnny closed the portal.

In the bridge, Victor shied away from the sparking circuitry as the cosmic storm fully hit the whole space station in waves. Everything shook, and things inside went haywire. Outside, things looked alive with electricity and heat. The storm was massive.

Inside the small chamber, Ben looked dazed as he slid down to the floor. Reed was right on the other side, watching him fall until something bright appeared in front of him.

The storm was forcing the portal open, and once it was through, it easily went through the window and hit Reed head on, knocking him back and then hitting Johnny.

Still in the hall, Sue was also hit with another wave of cosmic energy. Each one of them got their own strong blast of it, and they were falling back with the force of it. The whole of the storm seemed to go around the shielded bridge, and it seemed that Victor alone was alright.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Selene had little idea what was going on up there. Communications had been shut off. The only thing she knew was that the storm had been coming, and it had hit the station. She had watched the screen, wide-eyed and frozen, her mouth hanging slightly open in the shock. She knew nothing of what was happening up there. Were they alright? Did they survive? What happened?

She sank into her chair as she heaved out a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. There was nothing she could do, even though she tried busying herself with taking down what she saw happening. It did little to distract her, but it was better than nothing. All she could do was wait.

_Sorry it's a little bit shorter than the others, but it seemed like a good place to leave off until the next time. However, it is there for you, so….please review! :)  
_


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey everyone! I'm soooo sorry it's been ages since I last posted. Life has gotten pretty busy, and the people at work like me, so of course...they give me more work to do. Plus school...you know the deal. Anyway, sorry for the wait- here's Chapter 5!_

A heart monitor beeped the proof of life as Ben slowly opened his eyes and let them focus, seeing first a wooden ceiling and lights that weren't on.

"Wake up, Ben," a voice said to him, while his eyes wandered around before Johnny came into view, leaning over his bed. "Ben," he said, catching his eyes as he leaned back. "Hey, rise and shine, big boy. How you feeling?"

As Ben lifted his head to get a better look at Johnny, he also noticed that Selene was on the other side of his bed, sitting by his side. "Where am I?" he asked, feeling dazed.

"Back on Earth. We're in quarantine. Victor's medical facility," Johnny explained as he sat back down. Ben looked around the room, confused.

"Reed? Sue?" he asked, looking for them as well. "If we're in quarantine, then what are you doing here, Selene?" he asked, looking at her, not understanding why she was there if they were supposed to be kept separate.

"It's fine, Ben. Don't worry about it. I just wanted to see that you were okay. I know you got hit pretty hard and I wanted to see that you were alright," she said, her voice calm and soothing, although when she looked at him, the tiniest something betrayed the normal, concerned expression she had as she exchanged a quick look with Johnny.

"Yeah. And Reed and Sue are fine. Everybody else is fine," Johnny said as Ben kept looking around, his eyes landing back on Johnny before he spoke. He looked like he was holding back on something.

"What's wrong with me?" Ben asked, his voice low. Johnny drew in a breath, bracing himself to give Ben an answer that would probably make him very distraught.

"I swear to you, Ben, they've done everything humanly possible. The best plastic surgeons in the world are here, Ben. You had the best," Johnny said somewhat quickly, although he looked uncomfortable having to explain it to his friend, although Ben was starting to get jumpy, leaning over to reach for the mirror that lay on the side table next to his bed. "Give me that mirror," Ben said, grabbing it before Johnny could stop him.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. They said the shock alone-" Johnny was cut off as Ben reached for the mirror again.

"I said, give me that goddamn mirror!" Ben said, raising his voice and reaching to grab it. Selene, in anticipation of what would happen rose from her seat as Johnny had, and tried to get a soothing word in.

"Johnny-" she said, looking at him when he gave in and let Ben have the mirror. "Are you sure?"

"He has to see it at some point," Johnny said resignedly before looking at Ben with his warning. "Okay Ben, just be strong."

Slowly, Ben moved the mirror so that he could see his face. He was worried that something had gone terribly wrong, especially with how Johnny and Selene were acting. Once he could see his reflection in the mirror, he looked surprised, but relieved. Johnny clapped his hands then, smirking as he backed up.

"Unfortunately, the doctors just couldn't do anything to fix your face," he said as Ben was poking at his own face, making sure that he wasn't just seeing it, and that it was still him. Selene bit back the makings of a smile and stood up as well, knowing enough to back away too, although she waited a second before moving towards the door like Johnny did.

With a growl, Ben hurled the mirror at Johnny as he skittered out. Selene tried to keep a straight face before moving in the similar direction. Ben glared at her, and she shook her head, unable to hold back a smile.

"I'm sorry Ben, but it was funny. I really am glad you're okay though. All of you. I just wish I could've been there with you all," she said, the smile turning more genuine. However, she still moved out of the room with haste as Ben shot her a glare. She let out a little giggle; that had been fun, and she was sure that Ben would forgive her.

She followed Johnny out and caught up to him, shaking her head and giggling again. "You're horrible, you know that , right?"

"Yes, I do. And you were in on it too, my devious assistant," he said, smirking at her as they moved to another part of the facility. "But it was worth it, wasn't it?"

Selene just giggled again before Johnny opened a door and almost bumped into Reed. She hadn't gone to see him yet because she had been plotting with Johnny to pick on Ben a bit, but that was definitely next on her agenda.

"Hey," Johnny said as he walked through the door, looking back at Reed. "Nice do," he said with a chuckle. "Likin' the grandpa look." When Reed looked confused, Johnny motioned with his hands towards his hair. "See ya," Johnny said, looking back at Selene with a wink before leaving her to stand with Reed.

"What?" Reed asked as the door closed and he turned to a small mirror on the wall to see his reflection. Selene walked closer and moved one of his hands so she could take a closer look as well.

"Oh my god, it's turned grey," she said as Reed turned his head so he could see for himself. "You've got a strip of grey hair all around your head," she murmured as she looked at the back of his head while he touched his hair. It was weird, although aside from that, he seemed okay too. "Wow." She couldn't help examining it until he moved away and motioned for her to follow.

The TV was on and talking when Reed opened the door and let himself and her in. Victor Von Doom was on the TV, but when Selene realized whose room it was, she smiled to herself. The room belonged to Sue, who was laying in bed and appeared to be sleeping, surrounded by flowers. A doctor was attending to her screens, monitoring her health. Now that Selene had seen for herself that the team looked to be alright, she knew when to bow out. Soundlessly, she slipped out of the room with a smirk as Reed walked up to the doctor.

"How's she doing?" Reed asked as the doctor approached him, looking at Sue as she lay sleeping, and looking at her monitors to see what was going on.

"Stable," the doctor answered, "And her vitals are strong." He handed the clipboard he'd been holding over to Reed so that he could take a look as well. In his hand were a couple of lilies.

"Blood panels show no irradiation. Good," he said, flipping the first page up to look at the next one. "You'll step up this protocol-"

"Every four hours, yes," the doctor answered with a knowing smile. "We know what we're doing," he told Reed, seeing the obvious concern for Sue and reassuring him. "Another day of observation and you're all clear," he added, taking back the clipboard as the door opened, revealing a maid who brought in another vase of flowers and was about to put them by Sue's bedside.

"She's allergic to orchids. Put the sunflowers by her bed," Reed instructed the woman, going over to stop her from putting the orchids nearby. "They're her favorites." As the woman complied, Sue stirred, but Reed was already starting to walk out, although he had a small smile on his face, the lilies still in hand. He stopped at the small trash barrel before dropping the flowers in it and walking off. As the woman walked out as well, Sue turned her head toward the sunflowers just placed at her bedside and smiled.\

* * *

Elsewhere, in a big, elaborate stone building, Victor was speaking with someone.

"Well, Victor, the bank would like to congratulate you on the fastest free-fall since the Depression. We can't even give your stock away," a man sitting in a big chair at the end of a long table said, tossing a packet of papers down onto the table.

"You know I can turn this around," Victor said, looking as cool as ever, standing at the opposite end.

"You're going to have to, Victor, or we pull out," the man said, looking straight at Victor as a couple of other gazes followed to look at him. It seemed to have caught Victor off guard, because it made him pause before he gave another smooth answer. "You have a week."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you, Ned?" Victor asked, looking somewhat uncertain as all the men at the table stood up at the same time, the meeting concluded. Ned stood up last, adjusting his jacket.

"One week." With that, they all walked out of the spacious room, leaving Victor to look a little nervous, his eyes darting around uneasily.

* * *

Back at the medical facility, Johnny walked into his room, pulling up his pants. A nurse was standing there, and saw him look like he was going to get out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do we think we're going?" she asked, watching him.

"I don't know if _we've_ noticed, but the sickest runs this side of the alps are right outside," Johnny said, adjusting his snow pants. The nurse rested a hand on her hip, looking skeptical.

"Yeah, I've noticed. But there are rules here. You can't leave until we-"

"Until we've finished the tests," Johnny finished for her. "Yes, I know. I've never been good with rules. You let me know how those come out. Do you wanna help me with the zipper?" he asked with a smirk as he held the zipper to his red jacket, holding it out slightly in jest.

"You know, this is not a ski resort," the nurse said as Johnny zipped his jacket up.

"Not yet," he said as he sat down to put on one of his boots. "Luckily, grandma still sends care packages. It's amazing. For an 80 year old woman, you'd be surpri-" he was cut off by the nurse, who stuck a thermometer in his mouth.

"You are trouble," she said, letting it sit in his mouth as she watched the monitor take note of his temperature.

"Mmm. Trouble is my middle name," he said, muffled, while the temperature rate on the screen climbed to 103 degrees and up. The nurse looked at Johnny, making a face.

"Oh, you're hot," she said, looking confused, although Johnny was taking it in stride.

"Why thank you. So are you. And I'm not afraid to cry," he kept going smoothly, although the nurse cut back in.

"No, I mean you feel a little feverish," she said, putting her hand up to his face so that she could feel if it really was that hot, although Johnny took her hand away.

"I've never felt better in my life. God, you smell good," he kept rambling while the monitor kept beeping as his temperature kept climbing, reaching 159 degrees, 170, shooting up to 190. "When do you get off work?" he asked, taking the thermometer out of his mouth.

"Four. But I-" she was cut off by him, unable to speak.

"Tell you what. You meet me at 4:01 at the top of the mountain. That'll give you a minute to freshen up. That is yours," he said, getting up and grabbing his snowboard before sticking the thermometer into the nurse's pocket. "That is mine," he said, never breaking stride as he leaned into kiss her. "Nurses!" he whispered as he walked off right out of his room, leaving the nurse with a funny, amused look on her face. She took out the thermometer from her pocket and noticed something off with it, and looked to the screen for confirmation. Her expression paled as she noticed how high the temperature was. Two hundred and nine degrees.

* * *

Outside on a balcony, Reed and Selene were talking about what had happened, although she paused when she saw Ben come out.

"How long was I out?" Ben asked, his hand massaging the back of his neck. Reed turned his head and smiled.

"Hey. Three days," he answered, taking Ben's hand and giving him a hug. "I was worried about you. How are you feeling?"

"Solid," Ben answered, looking off the balcony before glancing at Selene. She looked away bashfully, a smirk on her face.

"Sorry Ben. Couldn't help it. Still glad to see you're fine though," she said, shooting him a big smile, making Ben roll his eyes. Reed looked somewhat confused.

"What happened?" he asked, looking between the two of them. Ben shook his head.

"Ah, you know how Johnny played that trick on me? Selene was in on it too. But I'll forgive her this time, since at least she apologized," he said, his voice gruff, but there was a small smile on his face. Reed looked slightly amused, and had to glance at his assistant. She shrugged, trying to look innocent.

"Oh. I see. How did I know?" Reed said with a slight laugh.

"Anyway, it was a close one though, huh? What was that about?" Ben asked, getting off the subject as he looked back to Reed with a laugh, still slightly incredulous.

"I don't know," Reed said, shaking his head slightly with a laugh, "I really don't know. We've been going over the figures again and again, and they all add up. I just don't understand. Maybe we should've aborted-"

"Reed," Ben said, stopping him. "It was a freak of nature. You couldn't possibly have predicted it. Let it go," he said, shaking his head as he tried to allay his best friend. Reed let out a sigh and gave a small nod. "You know, you live through something like this, it really makes you appreciate having the right woman in your life." As he spoke, he was looking down into the courtyard below, where a blonde woman was sitting at a patio table, reading a book.

"Yeah, you and Debbie are perfect," Reed said, although Ben stopped him.

"I'm not talking about Debbie." As he spoke, a nurse brought out something to Sue in the courtyard while Reed looked on, realizing what Ben was talking about.

"What? Come on. She's got a good thing with Victor. He's smart, he's powerful, he's successful-" Reed listed off, trying to convince himself otherwise, but Ben cut him off. Meanwhile, Selene remained silent, watching Reed get flustered with a small smirk.

"Maybe you should date him then," Ben suggested sarcastically, making Reed make a face at him.

"Ben, she ended up with the right guy. Things worked out for the best," Reed said, patting Ben on the back as he turned to walk away.

"Do I have to do everything myself?" Ben asked, looking up at eye level. Selene was still smirking, and although Reed had walked off, she stayed.

"Yes, yes you do. Unless you want a little help, of course. I know as well as you that Reed's lost his mind and he's still not over her. He's really thick sometimes. It makes you wanna hit your head against the wall," she said with a sigh as she still leaned against the balcony railing.

"Tell me about it," Ben said, shaking his head. Although his best friend was a legitimate genius, sometimes he was really dumb.

_Please, please, please review! I love hearing what you have to say, and keep reading!_


	6. Chapter 6

_I've been meaning to write another chapter when I found the free time and inspiration, so here it is! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fantastic Four characters in the movie. I only own Selene White.**

The beautiful and wide expanse of the Alps was visible from the red helicopter that was flying over the immaculately white snow covered mountains. Trees littered areas of the mountain sides, but where the helicopter was flying, there was nothing but untouched snow waiting to be turned into trails. Johnny and the nurse sat on the edge of the open side of the helicopter, waiting to drop down for their little date.

They both looked over the mountains until the helicopter pulled close to the peak of one of the mountains so that they could jump down and off.

"Alright, I think you should stay to the right. The left might give you trouble," Johnny called out over the din of the helicopter to the nurse, who looked at him like he was ridiculous. He turned to the pilot next. "I think we should drop ten more feet," he said, and the pilot agreed.

"Last one down springs for room service," the nurse told him with a grin before she dropped down onto the mountainside on her skis with a whoop. She started skiing down the mountain, leaving Johnny behind.

"My future wife!" he called to the pilot with a shake of his head as he pulled down his goggles and jumped down on his snowboard. Once he gained his footing he glided down and performed jumps, slaloming with the nurse as she skied. She was still ahead of him, and made sure to point it out.

"You're losing!" she called with a laugh, while Johnny trailed behind her.

"Alright, no more kid stuff," Johnny answered, catching up with her. "Check this out!" He called as he sprung ahead of her and flipped through the air. It was all well and fine, except for the trail of smoke that had formed in his wake, and unbeknownst to him, his winter jacket had somehow caught fire.

"You're on fire!" The nurse called out, noticing and looking over at him. Johnny, as oblivious as ever, took it only as a compliment.

"Thanks! You're pretty good too!" It grew weirder still, because not only was his jacket on fire, but it seemed that his skin was burning as well, although Johnny didn't seem to feel it at all. Of course, the nurse had to clarify.

"No, you're on _fire_! Look!" she called, causing him to actually look down at himself. It caught him off guard and caused him to lose his balance slightly, leaving him unprepared for the upcoming jump. Instead of pulling a trick and landing correctly, he simply dropped down with his trail of smoke and tumbled down the hill before gaining his footing again. This time, after mixing with the soft, powdery snow, the fire on his jacket had spread.

With this lack of grace, he went off the side of the cliff. The smoky trail was visible as he fell, and he couldn't help yelling as he kept falling, except something even stranger happened. He broke away from his snowboard…and completely burst into flames, and flew awkwardly through the air before hitting a high pile of snow.

Steam and snow mixed together, causing a big, thick cloud to form. By the time the nurse had finally caught up to where Johnny had fallen, there was a big hole melted into the mound, and deeper down, sat a pool of steaming water and a naked and bewildered Johnny Storm.

The nurse lifted her goggles so she could make sure she wasn't seeing things, and looked surprised.

"Care to join me?" Johnny asked, still looking pretty shocked himself. The nurse smirked and shrugged, dropping her ski poles.

* * *

Back at the medical facility, Ben and Susan were walking through a door to what was probably the facility's bar, talking.

"I can only stay for one drink. I have to meet Victor," Sue was saying as they walked, looking back at Ben. They walked in together, and Ben made a face.

"Oh, wouldn't want to keep Vic waiting," he said sarcastically, before the two almost walked into Reed and Selene. "Reed, Selene. What are you doing here?"

"I thought-" Reed began, looking at Ben with a slightly confused face, who shared a look with Sue. She looked just as confused, but Ben looked pretty sure of himself when he glanced at Selene.

"We were just dropping by for a drink. Someone needs to wind down," Selene answered, cutting Reed off with a smile at Ben and a discreet wink.

"Great! Uh, maybe you can join us," Ben answered, moving to put a hand on Reed's back so he couldn't refuse, and a hand on Sue's elbow as well. On Reed's other side, Selene took his elbow and helped him move, a deviously innocent look on her face.

* * *

In Victor Von Doom's office, a man asked a question.

"How's the I.P.O. now?" Victor asked his assistant, looking at himself in a mirror.

"It's fallen. We're looking at low 20s. It's a good number, considering the fallout from-"

"From Reed's disaster?" Victor asked, cutting the other man off. He continued staring intently at himself in the mirror as he spoke. "Get me on the A.M. shows, Larry King, cover of the _Journal_. Gonna have to do something about this scar," he said as he touched his face. At closer inspection, Victor had not escaped odd effects of the events that happened up in space. His face had been beaten up slightly, and now had a scar on his temple where there once had not been. "Make sure they only shoot me from my left side," he added, putting the mirror down and walking away from it.

"Actually, uh, the scar's tracking well," the assistant piped up, walking away from his spot in front of the fireplace to follow after his boss while fiddling on his PDA. "People seem to think it humanizes you," he said, walking out to a table that was set up out on the terrace for lunch.

Victor chuckled. "And that's a good thing?" he asked as he walked over to one place setting, hovering his hand over the elaborate, shiny silverware. A knife glimmered as it wiggled under his hand, as if it were being moved without being touched. The surrounding silverware moved as well, causing Victor to gasp silently as he looked down at the table. He let out a tired sigh, and closed his eyes for a moment. His assistant noticed, and spoke again.

"You know- maybe you should get some rest," the man suggested, looking at his boss with a bit of concern.

"Later," Victor said, turning his head slightly so that he could look at the man from the corner of his eye. "First, I have some unfinished business. A deal that needs closing."

"Sir, I have always wondered: why Sue?" the assistant asked, looking down at the table as he spoke, ever curious. "You could have any other woman in the world."

"That's why. Because I _could_ have any other woman," was Victor's simple answer.

* * *

The four of them sat at a table over drinks, laughing and enjoying themselves. Stories were being told, and the men were fighting over who got to tell the story. Ben was patting his chest from laughing so hard, as was Sue, Reed, and Selene. She had already heard some of the stories and had a couple to share as well, but she had also learned some new ones. The laughing died down, however, when Ben calmed down from laughing, but had a gurgling sound coming from him. Sue looked a little put off.

"Wow," she said, looking over at him as Ben let out a deep breath.

"Are you alright?" Reed asked, with Selene looking just as worried as she nodded and regarded Ben sitting across from her. Ben let out another sigh and patted himself on the chest.

"Bad shrimp. I think I'd better go lie down," he said, looking at the three of them looking at him, unsure if he really was alright. He took his dinner cloth and wiped his face. "Excuse me," he said, putting it down and getting up. He groaned and muttered as he started walking off, groaning again and laughing at himself. Reed looked across the table at Sue and let out an awkward sigh. She gave him an awkward smile, and Selene barely hid a smirk.

"Alright. I've got some work to do, and I'm gonna go make sure the big guy's alright. Have fun," she said, putting down her own napkin and looking down at Reed. He regarded her with a nod, and his face tinged slightly when she winked at him. He was going to kill her later. Selene just let out a tiny giggle, nodded to Sue, and then walked off as well, leaving the two to look at each other.

* * *

At the same time, candles were burning, halfway down already as Victor sat at a dinner table, alone.

* * *

"So are you feeling better?" Reed asked Sue with a smile. She returned the smile and nodded.

"Yes, thank you," she said, sipping at her glass of wine.

"Good," Reed said, nodding and smiling, looking like he'd genuinely been having a good time. "That's uh, good," he said as he picked up his own glass and had some wine. Sue laughed, shaking her head and looked down at the table.

"You always had a way with words," she said, while Reed could only bashfully smile and nod, looking down at the table as well. But, when he looked down, she was looking at him, at least until he looked back up at her. "Uh, wow," she said, bringing her wrist up so she could look at the time. "I should be going, cause, uh..I have to meet Victor." It was said rather awkwardly, her voice somewhat soft. Reed nodded, and had to speak.

"I'm really happy for you and Victor," he said, although Sue wasn't totally convinced.

"You're really happy for me and Victor?" she asked, repeating it. She had a skeptical expression on as she regarded Reed, and he nodded again.

"I can tell you guys are enjoying what was the best part of our relationship," he said, which made Sue make a slightly confused face.

"Which was?" she asked.

"Passion. For science." The words came out somewhat halted and awkward, and Sue gave Reed a look.

"You are such a dork, Reed. You never got it, and you never will," she said, smiling at him. Now he was confused.

"What did I say?" he asked, now lost and with the look to match.

"Unless it's explained to you in quantum physics."

"I just wanted to let you know that I was-" Reed tried to speak, but Sue cut him off. She leaned forward slightly as she spoke, shaking her head slightly.

"It's been two years, and all you can say is you're happy for me and some other guy? Victor may be a lot of things, but at least he's not afraid to fight for what he wants. It's nice to be wanted sometimes, Reed," she told him, looking a bit less than pleased. He never seemed to get that, and it always had to be spelled out for him. Reed looked away from her, and she continued. "To be seen and heard." And as she said that, she began to disappear.

"Look at me," she said, appearing to have gone completely invisible except for her clothes. Reed looked at her, but his eyes widened slightly.

"I can't," he said, and it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"What do you mean, you can't? Look at me!" Sue said, raising her voice in agitation. But Reed wouldn't be wrong this time. And, he really couldn't look at her, because she wasn't there!

"Sue, look at your hands," he told her finally, and as she did, a gasp could be heard. As she turned her wrists around, she saw only her watch and medical bracelet as if they were hovering and turning around in the air. In her surprise, she accidentally knocked over the bottle of wine on her side of the table. This caused something even stranger to happen.

As Reed gasped, seeing the wine bottle fall, he reached out a hand to catch it. That was the normal part. The abnormal part was that his hand and arm stretched longer than was humanly possible to catch it before it could hit the carpet. He looked at his arm, bewildered as it receded back to its normal state, as if it were elastic. Just as he put it back on the table, Sue became visible again. She was just as flabbergasted as he.

Of course, with perfect timing as ever, Johnny ran into the dining room followed by a shocked, but strangely entertained Selene. He wore nothing but a pink puffy jacket that he had to hold up around his waist. The waitress nearby stopped cleaning the glass in her hand to look. Selene couldn't blame her; that's why she ended up following in the first place. Run into a gorgeous, and almost naked guy in the hall, are you, in your right mind, gonna ignore that? Hell no.

"You are never gonna believe what just happened," Johnny said, looking at both Sue and Reed at their table. The looks of confusion on their faces grew even more confused, especially when they glanced at the pink jacket. "What?" he asked, before he realized what they were looking at. "Oh, well I can explain this."

"I sure hope so," Selene said from behind, unable to hide that smirk. Such a lovely view. She walked slowly as she walked by him, and Johnny shivered as if there'd been a cold breeze that went down his back and up under the jacket. "But it's not totally necessary, not like that, at least," she said as she walked by him, stopping somewhere closer to Johnny, but so she could see them all from where she stood.

Johnny shivered when she walked by, and watched her move off. "Like what you see, don't you? I know you think I'm hot, and I am. Really, really hot," he said, smirking even though he was being literal, and just overconfident of himself like he always was. After all, he really did burn himself out of his clothes. Selene just smirked at him when she visibly eyed him up and down, while Sue and Reed just looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"An explanation. Please?" Reed asked, just wanting to know what the hell happened.

This was going to be an interesting day.

_I hope you liked it! Please, as always, review. Love those things, you know._


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey everyone! I'm glad to see that people are liking my story! It makes me veeeery happy! Anyway, I'm trying to be good and keep up on this story somewhat. Here's the next chapter!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fantastic Four characters in the movie. I only own Selene White.**

Three things were happening simultaneously.

Victor Von Doom was alone in his office, sitting in his chair looking at nothing in particular while deep in thought. He was slowly running a hand through his hair, pausing when he felt something amiss.

Between his fingers was a small lock of his own hair, and he brought his hand so he could see that he wasn't just imagining it. He then brought his hand back to his hair again with a start, seeing if it really was falling out. When he brought his hand back down again, there was a bigger lock of brown hair in his hand, to his horror.

He quickly got up and went back over to his metal mirror, which he'd been using a lot lately. He was turning his hand this way and that as he examined the lock of his own hair before looking at his reflection. When he grabbed the handle of the mirror there was a surge in the electricity, and he saw it flicker back to normal when he let the handle go. He realized there was something wrong, after all.

* * *

In the medical facility, Ben Grimm was leaning over a sink, coughing as if he were trying to throw up. Sweat made his brow and whole bald head shine in the bathroom's light, and he looked at himself in the mirror before turning to leave. However, he was having trouble and stumbled to grab a hold of the door frame for support.

* * *

On the way out of the dining room, Selene White, Johnny Storm, Reed Richards and Sue Storm were discussing what on earth had happened to the three of them, trying to find a decent, sensible explanation.

"It has to be the cloud. It's fundamentally altered our DNA," Sue said to Richard as they walked through a set of doors together, trying to make sense of what was going on. Behind them, Selene and Johnny followed.

Selene was trying to make sense of it as well, and although she had the same idea as Sue, she knew that her boss wasn't going to believe it yet. Next to her, Johnny was experimenting, snapping his fingers. Every other time he snapped them, a little fire burned above his fingers, and it caught Selene's attention.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Reed said, not wanting to have it so plain and simple. It couldn't be. "We need a massive amount of evidence before making that leap."

"But Richard, you guys were all hit with massive amounts of energy from that cosmic cloud. There's no way that it could have done just nothing to you guys. You don't know what it consisted of, so there's a good chance something had to have happened," Selene said, trying to reason with him while watching Johnny. She'd learned pretty quickly what had happened in the dining room before she and Johnny had come in. Stretching, invisibility, spontaneous combustion? It had to be something.

"Still, Selene. I want to check for myself. I still haven't gotten to see what you'd taken down while we were-" Rich was cut off when Johnny called out ahead of him.

"Whoa, guys! Look!" Johnny said, causing Rich and Sue to stop and turn around. They weren't in the mood for a joke, but when Johnny snapped his fingers again, they saw he wasn't joking. There was a thin spit of flame emanating from his thumb as he and Selene caught up to the two, and he was watching it before he snapped his fingers to turn it off.

Rich looked at him, eyes slightly wide, and Sue looked just as surprised. Selene looked at it closer this time, and realized that they all had something different about them. They weren't just normal anymore. Johnny snapped his fingers slowly a couple of times for them so they could see properly.

"Now picture that, but everywhere," Johnny said, blue eyes glinting as he partially explained himself with excitement, waving his hand around for the emphasis. "It was everywhere! What?" he asked, when they had all said nothing but continued looking at him like he had three heads.

"The cloud has fundamentally altered our DNA." It was Rich's decided statement now that he had one more thing to prove the idea. Selene waved her hand at him, as if he should've believed her from the start.

"COOL!" Johnny exclaimed, letting out a thrilled cackle, smacking himself in the face. Selene let out a laugh at him as they all continued walking down the hall again. "And you know what guys?" His voice echoed in the hall, "I think I was flying." Selene smirked at him as he continued cackling.

"It's like you didn't believe us, Rich, That cloud was something," Selene said, watching them all as they continued down the hall. Now it seemed they were changing, and it seemed that soon enough, something she'd been hiding for so long wouldn't be such a radical thing to accept anymore. A time was coming.

"Yes, Selene," Rich said, "But I didn't want to just believe it. You know I need the evidence, and now I have. We need to find Ben."

In his room, Ben was in pain, He was groaning and screaming, unable to stay still on his bed. His monitor beeped to reflect his heartbeat and pulse, and it got faster as his heart began beating too quickly. Figures all over the screen were going haywire, his heartbeat, his weight…his body mass index.

When the quartet got to Ben's door, Rich practically ran to pound on it. Sue followed quietly, Johnny was still flicking his fingers, now playing with the fire, and Selene brought up the end, watching them all while still looking a little thoughtful.

"I said, cut it out, Johnny," Sue said, looking somewhat annoyed with her brother trailing behind her.

"Still getting the hang of it," Johnny said, continuing to snap his fingers to turn the little flame on and off.

"Hey Ben! It's Reed!" Rich said as he pounded his hand on the door again; he hadn't gotten an answer. He was getting worried about his best friend, and meanwhile, Sue whirled around to face Johnny.

"Stop." She was getting annoyed with it, and Johnny looked at her as if she was stopping his fun, but complied.

"Alright," he said, giving in.

"All right?"

"Yes!"

"God, what's wrong with you?" Sue asked him, annoyed before hearing Reed's voice and coming over to him. When Johnny mocked his sister, Selene snapped out of her thoughts and joined the present again, staying back a moment while Sue went to Reed. She shook her head at him as if she were reproaching him, although it was apparent that she was amused by the sight.

"Be nice to your sister," Selene said, swatting him playfully on the arm. While she was thinking that now that Johnny was all on fire and probably would literally be too hot to touch, she noticed that it didn't do anything except produce the slightest bit of steam at the contact. They'd both noticed, and Selene drew her hand back quickly.

"Look at that. I'm so hot, I sizzle," Johnny said with his devious smirk as he looked down at Selene. "It's okay, I know you want to touch me," he teased, looking extremely silly as he shimmied in the pink jacket to shoulder the smaller woman.

"Stop that!" Selene said, unable to help letting out a giggle as she put her hand on his arm to stop him, steam rising from the touch again. "No, seriously," she whispered as she brought her hand abruptly back down to her side and moved closer to Reed and Sue. Johnny smirked after her, but moved to follow as well.

"Sue, do you know the code?" Reed asked with a hint of panic; through the slit window in Ben's door, he could see the man in clear pain, and he could also see that his vitals were going off the charts.

Inside, Ben was squirming in pain. At this point, all of his vitals had reached the limit where the numbers stopped, and 'ERR' replaced them. He was becoming unstable, and as his body mass index continued to grow, there was an audible groan of his bed as it began to curve downward underneath the weight until the legs simply collapsed and dropped the bed to the floor.

Outside, the four were all trying to see into the little window, thoroughly worried when they all heard the bed break.

"Hey Ben! Open up!" Reed said, pounding his hand on the door again. "You alright, Ben?"

"Hey, does somebody have keys to these doors?" Johnny asked, stepping away from the door and spinning around to see if there was anyone who in the hall who could help them. "Anybody?" he called.

Sue was at the keypad on the other side of the door, hitting the buttons in her attempts to open the door. Johnny continued on.

"Just break the glass. It can't be that thick," he said, while Reed stood at the door, considering it while he looked at his hand. He crouched down for a moment, looking at both of his hands as if it was possible that they could be most helpful in getting them in.

Selene had a hand against the wall, watching them all and considering doing something when she saw Reed put his hand at the bottom of the door, and watched with interest while she saw his new ability in play.

His fingers flattened out as they slid underneath the door, as did his wrist and his arm when he stretched them through to the other side of the door and back up, feeling them expand back to normal size. To experiment, Reed flexed his hand on the other side, and it worked perfectly.

Inside Ben's room, his hand stretched up and up until he could see it through the window and brought it up to the handle. Feeling it, he moved his hand up a little more, touching the door to find the lock and turn it. There was a beep, and the door unlocked. As he slowly pulled his hand back from under the door and watched it shrink back to normal, he looked up and saw the three of them watching him with surprise. The silence, however, was short.

"That's gross," Johnny said, making a face, and causing Selene to roll her eyes.

"Shut up. That was amazing, Reed," she said, looking at her boss with a smile. There was a thud and a crash, and the four of them were snapped out of the awe in which they'd been briefly stuck. Reed quickly opened the door and they all piled in to see the room, empty. An alarm was beeping, and there was a massive hole in one of the windows. It had been broken through- smashed was more like it.

"Look! Look, look, look, look!" Johnny said, seeing something further up ahead outside and pointing at it. They all moved closer to look and see what he was referring to, and in the distance, they could see someone running into the forest. The person was big, and…orange.

A voice interrupted their watch.

"What's going on? What happened in here?" It was Victor, and he was looking rather sickly. Sue turned and stepped toward him, looking concerned.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked him, looking to see that he looked pale, and his eyes were slightly rimmed with red. He waved the question off.

"I'm fine. Just a few scrapes, that's all," Victor answered, shaking his head.

"Ben did this. He's had some kind of reaction to exposure from the cloud," Reed said, turned to look at Victor and explain.

"We all have, um, different symptoms," Sue said with a shake of her head, looking between Reed and Victor, who seemed to look somewhat confused.

"Symptoms?" he asked.

"Victor, um, I should have-" Sue started, but he cut her off, shaking his head and waving his hand.

"Just find him." With that, he turned around and left.

"Anybody got any ideas where the big guy's going?" Johnny asked, still at the broken window, resting a hand on part of it that wasn't cracked or broken.

Selene had been looking between the window and the short conversation. She shook her head as an answer, but Reed had looked on the floor.

There was a picture of Ben with his fiancée. Reed spoke up, knowing.

"He's going home."

_As always, please, please review. I love to hear what you have to say, and I will try to get another chapter out soonly! :)_


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